{"id":27969,"date":"2018-07-06T01:00:58","date_gmt":"2018-07-05T15:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/?p=27969"},"modified":"2025-03-11T22:14:45","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T11:14:45","slug":"father-daughter-group-tour-united-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/father-daughter-group-tour-united-states\/","title":{"rendered":"What happens when a travel-obsessed daughter takes her non-travelling father on a trip to the US"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is there such a thing as an \u2018expert traveller\u2019? I don\u2019t think so. However I do think that when you travel a lot, you obtain some pretty useful travel skills. Now imagine a skilled traveller going on a trip with someone who is pretty much a novice to exploring the world. And this novice is also the skilled traveller\u2019s father.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the record, the skilled traveller would be me: tour leader for Intrepid in which role I show people around in 16 European countries. In my spare time my wanderlust took me to 6 different continents in 18 months. The travel novice is my dad, who spends a lot of time wondering why I choose to be so far away so often. He takes vacations to areas close enough to drive to \u2013 generally France.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s always loved the photos I took on several trips in the United States<\/a><\/strong>, so when he turned 60 we decided it was time for him to go and see the parks with his own eyes.<\/p>\n

\"United

Yosemite National Park<\/p><\/div>\n

Out of the comfort zone<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I was making my way through an American supermarket that seemed to be the size of the average European theme park, looking for my dad. I spotted him in the cookie aisle. He was pacing up and down the cookie aisle, making his way through several stages of frustration because he didn\u2019t recognize any of the packages in front of him and therefore couldn\u2019t possibly make a decision on what to buy. So he bought nothing. And got annoyed about not having any cookies.<\/p>\n

It was day 3 of the USA National Parks Explorer <\/strong>trip with Intrepid, and my dad was still adjusting to being on another continent. Fast forward a week or two and he was reluctant to share his newly discovered Oreos because he realized that they’re the best cookies of all time.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what happens when Intrepid and your daughter drag you out of your comfort zone and into the world.<\/p>\n

\"UnitedGetting the group vibes<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We met our group in San Francisco: a couple from Australia, two Swiss girls, my dad and I from the Netherlands and three single Australian women. I was by far the youngest but age is just a number and the first day on the bus I discovered that one of the Australian ladies was basically my long lost twin (the fact that I was her daughter’s age is just a detail) and my dad became best mates with one of the Swiss girls.<\/p>\n

Before we set off on the trip we talked about possible group dynamics many times. Although I was pretty sure the group would be great \u2013 it was going to be an Intrepid trip after all, and all our travelers are awesome \u2013 and my dad and I are both quite sociable, we set some ground rules. If we wouldn\u2019t like anyone, we would just abandon the group and go hiking on our own. Luckily we never had to set this plan in motion.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, my dad found out that his new Swiss bestie was a much better hiking partner than me and we mostly went our separate ways during the hikes (and we were both super happy with this solution!).<\/p>\n

\"United

Our amazing Intrepid group in Vegas<\/p><\/div>\n

The group came in handy many times. When I needed some partners in crime to check out the local entertainment in Las Vegas or when my dad wanted to go on a sunset boat tour I wasn\u2019t too interested in, we were happy to split up and do our own thing with other group members without having to worry about leaving the other on their own.<\/p>\n

CHECK OUT INTREPID’S RANGE OF SMALL GROUP TOURS IN THE UNITED STATES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Times they are a-changing<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As a little girl I always looked up to my father. He was the greatest person in the world and there was nothing he couldn\u2019t fix. As an adult our relationship changed. Next to the image I always had, I now also see a person who can be stubborn as a mule and who tends to see problems that don\u2019t exist (remember the cookie incident? Worst case is that you won\u2019t like them. Just get rid of them by sharing them around the bus).<\/p>\n

So I thought it would be good to prepare myself for this trip, and I asked a colleague who just traveled with his mother for some advice. \u2018Be patient\u2019 was the key answer. And yes, this turned out to be true. But the more time we spent across the pond, the more relaxed my dad seemed to get. His image of the States started changing from the land of people with a love for lawsuits and chemically modified food to the country with endless roads and beautiful nothingness and amazing National Parks that are so beautiful they seem unreal.<\/p>\n

\"United

Joshua Tree National Park<\/p><\/div>\n

At times he was so excited that it almost made me emotional. After he hiked all the way up Angel\u2019s Landing, one of the most popular (and strenuous!) hikes in Zion, he was beaming like a 1000 watt light bulb. He asked our tour leader so many questions and soaked up as much knowledge as he could. He ate delicious Mexican food and dreadful hotel breakfasts and slowly but surely started to change into an almost mellow traveler. I couldn\u2019t be more proud.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a06 REASONS TO DO A GROUP TOUR IN AMERICA (FROM AN AMERICAN GROUP TOUR SKEPTIC)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Father\/daughter travel<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As a tour leader for Intrepid I show around many people with different relationships: partners, friends, solo travellers and the occasional parent with offspring. The father\/daughter combination seems to be the least spotted variety in this last category. To set an example on how rare this combination is: during the welcome meeting one of our group members asked awkwardly if we were \u2018errr\u2026 friends or something?\u2019<\/p>\n

Was it always fun? Sure there were times I wanted to stick him behind the wallpaper as we say in the Netherlands \u2013 meaning that he drove me crazy \u2013 but in general, yes it was!<\/p>\n

\"UnitedAfter spending these few weeks exploring the States with my dad, I can recommend this to anyone. If you have a parent who is still in good health, do not hesitate to seize the moment and travel together. It will surely give you some incredible memories to last a lifetime, and change your relationship forever \u2013 hopefully for the better!<\/p>\n

Ready to have the time of your life on a trip to the US? Check out our range of small group tours there.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

(Image credits from top to bottom: Astrid Slootweg, Intrepid Travel, Astrid Slootweg x2, Intrepid Travel, Astrid Slootweg.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you have a parent who is still in good health, do not hesitate to seize the moment and travel together. It will surely give you some incredible memories to last a lifetime, and change your relationship forever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16089,"featured_media":27976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[286],"tags":[456,874,423,69,1264],"class_list":["post-27969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-intrepid-trip","tag-national-parks","tag-north-america","tag-united-states","tag-us-national-parks","ipf_region-united-states"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhen Father and Daughter go on a Group Tour of the United States... | Intrepid Travel Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you have a parent who is still in good health, do not hesitate to seize the moment and travel together. 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